Pheasant.com Blog

Aflatoxins are nasty contaminates found in feed. No animal is immune from aflatoxins. They are produced by certain molds, like aspergillus flavus. The good news is that feed companies must test for these molds regularly and constantly and we have never had to return feed because of high aflatoxins. We don’t let the testing by our feed supplier be the last test, though. We test four random feed samples on the farm per week. We have often talked about how important it is to do everything possible to insure the health of our birds. This procedure is just one of many steps we take to make our birds stay healthy.
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Karina Rangel has been working at MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc. since October of 2016. She was hired as a temporary employee, but by January of 2017, she was officially hired as an administrative assistant. We were so pleased to add a talented and bilingual employee to our office staff! Please enjoy our recent blog post explaining how helpful it is to have a bilingual employee on staff.
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We look at multiple weather sites for information to plan our days and weeks on the pheasant farm. Generally, the Weather Channel, Accu Weather, and Wunderground, are our sources. We combine the forecasts and try to make rational decisions about our work and bird safety. Everything from warm rain to cold rain, snow and the wind affect our birds and the decisions we make!
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Erik Rusch and Heidi Welch, employees at MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc. recently attended Layer School At Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. It was a two-day crash course geared toward everything to do with layer chickens (chickens that are in cages laying eggs for human consumption). Heidi and Erik were the only two “non-chicken” students attending this class and were happy to find that the information was applicable to our pheasant farm.
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Each year we sell lots of chicks over the course of our main chick season from April to mid-August. Consistently, our sales reach 1.5 million chicks by the end of the season! During the several months, when sales are booming, our staff is working long intensive days to take orders, prepare records, and ship chicks all over the world! August is the end of our chick sales season and the month of chick sales that is least understood by our customers.
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News that Amazon will finalize the purchase of Whole Foods by the second half of 2017 is rampant on the internet. The articles consistently mention a deal for 13.7 billion dollars! Whole Foods stores have been in business since 1980. They opened with one store in Austin, Texas and now have 460 stores across the United States. Whole Foods has been selling MacFarlane pheasants for years and they are one of our biggest customers! This is why the future acquisition of Whole Foods, by Amazon, put us all on high alert!
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Employers benefit from having bilingual employees on staff. Since October of 2016, Karina Rangel, who speaks both Spanish and English, has been working in our office at MacFarlane Pheasants. It is a real advantage in a business with customers from all over the world and many employees to have someone who can interpret for them. In a 2012 study by the National Institute of Health researchers found that people who grow up speaking two languages are also better at multi-tasking. We are indeed lucky to have Karina working here to support our Spanish speaking employees and customers.
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Recently we have been interviewing our newest workers at MacFarlane Pheasants. They came to our farm all the way from South Africa! Johan Jacobs applied, through an agency in South Africa for an opportunity to work in the United States. MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc. was the first job that popped up and Johan jumped at the chance to work in America.
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Wicus Jacobs is currently an employee at MacFarlane Pheasants Inc. He has only lived in America for a short time and will only live here 10 months. He came to our farm from Christiana North West, South Africa.
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A complicated application process in South Africa, at a company that helps South African people find work in the United States, brought Gerhardus Venter to MacFarlane Pheasants. He lives here with nine other men from various parts of South Africa, and will be here for 10 months. All of the men will return to their homeland on January 15, 2018.
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